With Gurgaon development authority in place, city bus service on fast track

The authority has floated tenders for two bus depots in sectors 10 and 54, while land for third depot in Sector 72 is being earmarked.

Gurgaon and its nearby areas does not have requisite public transportation services, because of which people have to depend on their own vehicles or hired vehicles for commute. (Sanjeev Verma/HT PHOTO)

With the passing of the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority Bill, 2017 in the state assembly, hopes for the launch of a dedicated bus service in the city have received a fresh boost.

In a step towards rolling out the bus service, the authority has floated tenders for two bus depots in sectors 10 and 54, while land for third depot in Sector 72 is being earmarked. The tenders were floated in second week of this month and the last date for applying is end of this month.

The authority had decided to purchase 500 CNG buses in a phased manner.

Tenders for the bus concessionaire will be floated as soon as the cabinet subcommittee approves the proposal for city bus that is much awaited, as there is no public transportation in Gurgaon.

A Committee of Secretaries on Infrastructure (CoSI) had in November last year approved the setting up of a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) — Greater Gurgaon Urban Transport Services Limited — to own and operate the Gurgaon city bus service.

“The proposal is scheduled to be sent to the cabinet subcommittee and as soon as the approval is received, tenders to finalise the bus concessionaire will be floated,” said V Umashankar, additional chief executive officer GMDA and the commissioner of Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG).

At present, the Haryana transport department operates a fleet of 115 low floor buses of which 55 are air-conditioned. The fleet, however, falls short of meeting the city’s demand, as 10% of vehicles remain stationed for repair and maintenance.

As per the plan, the Greater City Bus Service is to run 500 buses of which 45% will be air-conditioned. The frequency of the service will be 7.5-10 minutes. In a pre-proposal survey, the MCG had an estimated potential ridership of three lakh per day.

It is proposed that the MCG was to have 51% share in the SPV followed by 19% share of Haryana government, 25% of Haryana Industrial Development Board and 5% of the Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC).

Gurgaon and its nearby areas do not have requisite public transportation services, because of which people have to depend on their own vehicles or hired vehicles for commute. More private vehicles on roads lead to frequent snarls.

“A city cannot survive without an effective public transport solution and Gurugram is no exception. The city should have got a high-quality bus system a decade earlier. However, it is, indeed, heartening to hear that things are finally falling into place and the city will finally get its dedicated bus service. It will help in improving air quality as well as reducing road traffic and accidents in the city,” Sarika Panda, manager, Cities and Transport, World Resources Institute-India, said.

“In the absence of reliable city bus service, people are compelled to use their private vehicles. A quality bus service will also put an end to recurrent traffic jams,” Sanjeev Saxena, an activist who strives to raise public awareness on road accidents, said.

However,the buses should be procured as per the width of roads, as the standard 60-70 seater buses might add to traffic jams, Saxena said.

To make commuting smoother:

Bus depots to come up at sectors 10, 54, and 72

City bus service proposal approved by Committee of Secretaries on Infrastructure (CoSI) in November, to be forwarded to Cabinet subcommittee now

GMDA to purchase 500 low floor CNG buses in a phased manner of which 45% will be air-conditioned

Frequency of the service will be 7.5 to 10 minutes

Presently, the Haryana transport department operates a fleet of 115 low floor buses of which 55 are air-conditioned